CLASS Statement on Budget 2017

"The Conservatives have presided over seven years of cuts that have severely wounded our society and damaged our immediate and long term economic prosperity. Today’s announcements were packaged as a gift, but when understood in this context, they felt more like a kick in the teeth."

"At this point, something is not better than nothing. Given the unprecedented uncertainty of Brexit negotiations, this could have been the perfect opportunity to cast off the self-imposed austerity straitjacket and make some bold announcements to tackle low levels of investment and stop the demise of our public services. Instead, what we’ve been offered in the budget today amounts to gimmickry and tokenism.”